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Articles by J S Bird

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About J S Bird

A retired academic, Jeremy will contribute article on subjects that attract his interest. More Posts

How the world goes around

As I begin today’s post I need to declare an interest – I do not believe in God. That registered, I would also like to add that I do not consider myself to be anti-religion per se, say in the style of Professor Richard Hawkins who delights in crusading (to use a word) against those who [...]

January 24, 2020 // 0 Comments

Get real, people!

Overnight, as is my wont, as I went about my business I also had my computer tuned to the BBC’s Radio 5 Live station. The big current affairs issue of the moment was the aftermath of the recent horrendous London Bridge terrorist incident in which three people were killed (one the perpetrator) and [...]

December 2, 2019 // 0 Comments

A sense of perspective

One of the troubles with being over a certain age is that – having necessarily and inevitably lived one’s youth and maturing years in a society with one set of mores – it’s often quite easy to get suckered into raising an eyebrow (and sometimes more, e.g. one’s hackles) at the [...]

November 24, 2019 // 0 Comments

It’s happening all the time

There are two sides to almost everything and it occurred to me the other day that – in the context of ageing – this applies even to the supposed vicissitudes of a fading memory. As I get older I find myself not only becoming more forgetful but also being accused more often of being so by those [...]

November 7, 2019 // 0 Comments

Then and now … and then some

For those of generations after mine – and indeed my own to the extent that memories may be fading – one of Britain’s light-entertainment stars of yester-year was proud Yorkshireman Wilfred Pickles (1904-1978). Pickles’ signature radio programme Have A Go graced the BBC airwaves from 1947 to [...]

October 13, 2019 // 0 Comments

A feature of the modern world

With a nod to “When did you last stop beating your wife?” – the legal phrase allegedly deployed recently and controversially by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC – I wished to turn today to the vexed subject of gender. In doing so, and being (as I am) sufficiently ‘in touch’ to be [...]

October 6, 2019 // 0 Comments

The Emperor has no clothes

It is perhaps a sign of our turbulent and unsettling times that my somewhat eventful weekend brought together events and ruminations that resulted in some uncomfortable conclusions and judgements. To be more specific, a what was later identified as a several-days’ old leak from a flat two floors [...]

September 30, 2019 // 0 Comments

It’s not easy watching a man drowning

I’ve just looked it up online, so it must be true: in his play Man and Superman, George Bernard Shaw – having a pop at the teaching profession – penned the line: “Don’t listen to her, Bob. Remember, those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” Another popular version of the same thrust [...]

September 4, 2019 // 0 Comments

What really happened? No, me neither …

Today I return to the sometimes intriguing and puzzling relationship between reality and subjective perception, a subject that we on the Rust occasionally touch upon with a hint of mischievousness and humour. As I commence this piece I am listening to a Dotun Adebayo-hosted edition of Radio Five [...]

September 2, 2019 // 0 Comments

An incident of breaking news

You have to smile sometimes. Yesterday mid-morning I was out, driving to the shops upon an errand, when I tuned to a radio discussion in which – chaired by the programme host – a guest panel of Leave and Remainer politicians were knocking six bells out of each other in reaction to a ‘breaking [...]

August 28, 2019 // 0 Comments

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